Overwhelming Pain In Back And Abdomen While On Xeloda

My husband was on one cycle of Xeloda.  He ended up 4 days short of the cycle.  They did a scan and said that the scan didn't show anything different from the one that he had 3 weeks prior.  He had a rest for 7 days and now was started at 50% dose.  Yesterday was his first day taking the pills and today he once again is doubled over with this pain in his abdomen and right side.  He has metastatic rectal cancer with mets to the liver and lung. 

Could this be a sign that the cancer is getting bigger or could it be a sign that the Xeloda is actually helping his tumors?

He is on pain medicine as well as GI medicine as they told us that a lot of people on Xeloda tend to have gut problems with it.

 Any information would be helpful.

Thanks -

Usually, Xeloda is well tolerated. Is he taking the Xeloda after a meal-within 30 minutes?  If he is taking on an empty stomach, he will have LOTS of problems and the Xeloda website also tells you not to take it with meals- but rather within 30 mintues AFTER the completion of a meal.  This may be the cause of the problem. 

Yes - he does take it 30 minutes after eating.  Yesterday was a very bad day as he had such severe pain he spent most of his day in bed. 

 They have also prescribed Nexium 1 hour before eating and Reglan 30 minutes before eating because of him having a colostomy they want to make sure that things keep moving. 

Last night after taking his Xeloda dose the pain was bad but he also took a pain pill for the night and pretty much slept through it. 

 I want to see what this morning brings with his morning dose and if the same thing occurs as yesterday - we are calling ASAP.

Thanks for the response.

I guess I never thought about it but I also take Nexium.  Took it way before I had cancer because I have a very acidic stomach.  Don't have problems with acid reflux just a super acidic stomach.  Maybe that helped and did the trick for me.  Certainly worth a try.  In my book, Nexium is wonderful so hopefully it will work for you.  I am allergic to Reglyn (or however you spell it) and I don't like the way it makes me feel.  Most people tolerate Xeloda fairly well.  One thing that I did forget to mention.  Make sure that he is not eating a lot of things that contain folate or taking anything with folates or folic acid in it.  Don't take a multivitamin while on Xeloda at least not one with folic acid.  When they give you the 5FU, they give you leucovorin which is a derivitive of folic acid to help keep the 5FU in your system longer.  With Xeloda, you don't need that extra leucovorin because it works differently and because you are taking it every day.  Studies have shown that people in Europe tolerate Xeloda much better because researchers feel that their grain products, like cereal and bread are not fortified with folic acid like ours are over here.  So, make sure that he is not overdoing it with pasta, cereal, bread-stuff like that.  I didn't have a problem with it but then everyone is different.  Sorry I forgot to mention that but since it wasn't an issue with me, I just sort of forgot about it.  Just check labels for folates or folic acid.

See if that might help as well as the Nexium.  Keep me informed.  Have a good day.

Jaynee

I agree with Soccermom's responses. Being the caregiver for my wife and being treated for her cancer at CTCA, we feel confident well-advised, and actually happy to be on Xeloda compared to the array regimen of original chemotherapy a few months ago. She is experiencing the predicted 'hands and feet' syndrome but very tolrable. She takes the pill dosages, 3 morning, 3 night, strictly 12 hours apart, alwasy east food 30 minutes before, stasys on her regular, helathy, balanced diet, and is quite happy witht the overall tolerability of Xeloda.

For the acute pain resulting from your husband's ingestion of Xeloda, I would suspect some existing condition in addition to the Xeloda that you may not be aware of - if the Nexium, Pepcid AC...et al do not remedy the symptoms. CTCA, of course, has a full staff of specialists in all fields that deal with these special cases - but I would advise getting examined by a gastroenterologist - giving him details of the whole history, treatment, etc. Luckily, our gastroenterologist friend was the one who diagnosed my wife originally and has maintained contact with us throughout treatment. He said if any gastro-symptoms developed from the treatment drugs, to let him know right away and he would confer with CTCA on his findings.

At any rate, it seems that you should not wait any longer. This acute pain may be signalling soimething that needs attention in addition to the cancer - which the Xeloda is attacking. Possibly a specialist in gastro-problems can solve the whole thing with something quick and easy.

A gastroenterologist woudl be my next move.

Good Luck!!

Your ally in cancer treatment,

Davea888

Thanks to both of you soccermom and dave.

 We actually were back at the oncology office yesterday.  His pain has been a constant since starting on the Xeloda.  They have now put him on Fentanyl patches with percocet for breakthrough pain. 

I think I neglected to mention that he has had 2 CAT scans within the last 3 weeks and there was no change to either one of them.  He has multiple tumors 3 that are bigger than an inch in size and other small tumors that are in both lobes of the liver.  His liver function tests are fine and his CEA is actually pretty low since all this started at 14.3. 

 The concensus now is that his pain which is in the liver area and radiating to the back is the Xeloda attacking the tumors.  He is having another CAT scan on Friday to make sure that there is nothing else going on such as a blood clot - since he is also susceptible to pulmonary emboli. 

They told us also that quite a few people have been coming into the office with complaints of pain, sticking, pulling, picking pains all types of descriptions and they found that these people have been having tumor shrinkage.  I feel better knowing that there are other people out there that are having this problem as well.  Maybe his is just so bad because there are so many tumors!!

So, we will see what this test shows. 

We keep praying that one day he will be well - not cured - just well.

Good luck to both of you and I will keep you posted.

Kathy